Graham Chapman, Michael Palin, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam and John Cleese - collectively known as Monty Python's Flying Circus - started a very big thing indeed when their self titled television show appeared on British television in October of 1969. The six comedians had no way of knowing then how influential and popular their brand of irreverent and absurdist humor would become or what an impact it would have on the pop culture of the western world. The television series would last until 1974 and run forty-five episodes in total before spinning off into a series of films and live performances that have helped the enduring comedic legacy of the group to remain as strong today, if not stronger, than it was decades ago.

Part of what made the material in Monty Python's Flying Circus so funny was that in a way it had a personal touch. The group not only wrote the material but they performed it as well, with periodic animated breaks courtesy of Terry Gilliam's quirky and surreal comedic animations. The show was quite experimental and not at all afraid to push the boundaries (and in turn ruffle a few feathers) in terms of what was considered to be in good taste on British television, but naughty or not, the Pythons hit a chord with the public and their unique brand of sketch comedy took off in both its native England and abroad.

Despite what, on the surface at least, could be considered a completely random approach to comedy, the series actually had a fairly rigid structure to it as well as quite a few recurring themes and ideas. From the opening of the show that preceded any credits of any kind to the blunt and often times sudden ending, the show featured its fair share of recurring characters and running jokes while Gilliam's instantly recognizable animation style was part of the glue that held it all together. The series almost always let the male cast members play the female roles in drag (something that The Kids In The Hall would take to the next level on their CBC series in the nineties) and it wasn't uncommon for characters to break into song from time to time. The series really excelled at mixing up the physical side of comedy with bits like The Ministry Of Silly Walks with more political sketches like the numerous digs at the RAF and the British Army with what was at the time current pop culture - Sam Peckinpah's Salad Days being a prime example of that. The end result was a show that was as constantly surprising as it was consistently hilarious.

While the fourth season of the series definitely suffers from the absence of John Cleese (who left because he felt he was basically out of anything worth contributing to the series), even this later batch of shows holds up well. Various sketches, such as the Lumberjack Song and the Dead Parrott Sketch, proved to be so popular that they've taken on a life of their own and in a sense become better known than the series in which they first appeared (this reviewer can remember his late grandfather and his uncle reciting the Dead Parrot sketch from memory of the dinner table at Christmas in 1988!). Pythonesque has become part of the modern vocabulary and has been used to describe plenty of modern day American comedy acts, from Saturday Night Live to The Upright Citizens Brigade - and then there's the most obvious heir to the Python's throne, the aforementioned The Kids In The Hall out of Toronto. The Influence of those six British comedians is undeniable, and in many ways it's been permanently tattooed on the face of modern comedy.

Time passed and the group called it quits for good after churning out a few hysterical films before moving on to side projects such as Cleese's excellent Fawlty Towers and other projects like Jones' Erik The Viking or Gilliam's noteworthy directorial output. Graham Chapman would pass away from cancer pretty much squashing the prospects of a true Monty Python reunion (though the 1998 Aspen show - more on that in a bit - was a good effort) but thankfully the group did leave us a pretty substantial body of work to enjoy time and again.

Episode 4: Owl-Stretching Time Live From The Cardiff Rooms, Libya/Song (And Did Those Feet)/Art Gallery/Art Critic/It's A Man's Life In The Modern Army/Undressing In Public/Self-Defense Against Fresh Fruit/Cartoon - Changing On The Beach/Rustic Monologue/Secret Service Dentists

Episode 17: The Buzz Aldrin Show Cartoon - Metamorphosis/Architect Sketch/How To Give Up Being A Mason/Cartoon - Anti-Masonic Therapy/Motor Insurance Sketch/The Bishop/Living Room On Pavement/East Midlands Poet Board/A Choice Of Viewing/Chemist Sketch/Words Not To Be Used Again/After-Shave/Vox Pops/Police Constable Pan-Am

Episode 18: Live From The Grill-O-Mat Live From The Grill-O-Mat/Blackmail/Society For Putting Things On Top Of Other Things/Escape From Film/Cartoon - Escape/Current Affairs/Cartoon - Escape Continues/Accidents Sketch/Seven Brides For Seven Brothers/Cartoon - Piggy Bank Hunting/The Man Who Is Alternately Rude And Polite/Documentary On A Boxer (Ken Clean-Air System)/Host On A Bus

Episode 19: It's A Living It's A Living/The time On BBC 1/School Prize-Giving/If - A Film By L. F. Dibley/Rear Window - A Film By L.F. Dibley/Rinians Rainbow/Foreign Secretary/Dung - Book OF The Month Club/Dead Indian//Timmy Williams Interview/Raymond Luxury Yacht Interview/Cartoon - Sexual Athletes/Registry Office/Cartoon - The Prince And The Black Spot/Election Night Special

Disc 7:

Episode 20: The Atilla The Hun Show The Atilla The Hun Show/Atilla The Hun/Secretary Of State Striptease/Vox Pops On Politicians/Ratcatcher/Wainscotting/Cartoon -Killer Sheep/The News For Parrots/The News For Gibbons/Today In Parliament/The News For Wombats/Cartoon - Atilla The Bun/The Idiot In Society/Test match/The Epsom Furniture Race/Take your Pick

Episode 22: How To Recognize Different Parts Of The Body How To Recognize Different Parts Of The Body/Bruces/Naughty Bits/The Man Who Contradicts People/Cosmetic Surgery/Camp Square-Bashing/Cartoon - Killer Cars/Cut-Price Airline/Batley Townswomen's Guild Present The First Heart Transplant/The First Underwater Production Of Measure For Measure/The Death Of Mary Queen Of Scots/Exploding Penguin On TV Set/There's Been A Murder/Europolice Song Contest/Bing Tiddle Tiddle Bong

Disc 8:

Episode 23: Scott Of The Antarctic French Subtitled Film/Scott Of The Antarctic/Scott Of The Sahara/Cartoon - Conrad Poohs And His Dancing Teeth/Fish License/Derby Council v. All Blacks Rugby Match/Long John Silver Impersonators v. Gynaecologists

Episode 26: Royal Episode 13 The Queen Will Be Watching/Coal Mine/The Man Who Says Things In A Roundabout Way/The Man Who Speaks Only The Ends Of Words/The Man Who Speaks Only The Beginnings Of Words/The Man Who Speaks Only The Middles Of Words/Cartoon - Crelm Toothpaste/Commercials/How To Feed A Goldfish/The Man Who Collects Birdwatcher's Eggs/Cartoon - Spiny Norman, Insurance Sketch Titles/Insurance Sketch/Queen Tunes In/Hospital Run By RSM/Mountaineer (Brief)/Exploding Version Of The Blue Danube/Girls' Boarding School/Submarine/lifeboat/Undertaker's Sketch

Episode 29: The Money Programme The Money Programme/There Is Nothing Quite So Wonderful As Money/Erisabeth L./Fraud Film Squad/Cartoon - Police Hunt For Visconti Impersonator/Salvation Fuzz/Church Police/Cartoon - Heaven/Women In Jungle/Jungle Restaurant/Apologies For Violence And Nudity/Ken Russell's Gardening Club/The Lost World Of Roiurama/Six More Minutes Of Monty Python's Flying Circus/Argument Clinic/Hitting On The Head Lessons/Inspector Flying Fox Of The Yard/One More Minute Of Monty Python's Flying Circus

Disc 10:

Episode 30: Blood, Devastation, Death, War And Horror Blood, Devastation, Death, War And Horror/The Man Who Speaks In Anagrams/Anagram Quiz/Merchant Banker/Pantomime Horses/Life And Death Struggles/Cartoon - The Househunters/Mary Recruitment Office/Bus Conductor Sketch/The Man Who Makes People Laugh Uncontrollably/Army Captain As Clown/Gestures To Indicate Pauses In A Televised Talk/Neurotic Announcers/The News With Richard Baker/The Pantomime Horse Is A Secret Agent Film

Episode 38: A Book At Bedtime Party Political Broadcast/A Book At Bedtime/The Red Gauntlet/McKamikaze Scotsman/No Time To Lose/Cartoon - No Time Toulouse/More McKamikaze Scotsman/Cartoon - 2001/Penguins/BBC Programme Players/Unexploded Scotsman/Spot The Loony/Rival Documentaries/Dad's Doctors/Dad's Pooves

Episode 41: Michael Ellis Department Store/Buying An Ant/At Home With The Ant And Other Pets/Documentary On Ants/Ant Communication/Cartoon - Ants/Poetry Reading (Ants)/Toupee/Different Endings

Episode 42: Light Entertainment War Up Your Pavement/RAF Banter/Trivializing The War/Courtmartial/Basingstoke In Westphalia/Anything Goes In/Film Trailer/The Public Are Idiots/Programme Titles Conference/The Last Five Miles Of The M2/Cartoon - Television Center/Woody And Tinny Words/Show Jumping/Newsflash/When Does A Dream Begin?

Episode 45: Party Political Broadcast Most Awful Family In Britain/Icelandic Honey Week/A Doctor Whose Patients Are Stabbed By His Nurse/Birgadier And Bishop/Cartoon - Opera Singer/Appeal On Behalf Of Extremely Rich People/The Man Who Finishes Other People's Sentences/David Attenborough/The Walking Tree Of Dahoney/The Batsmen Of The Kalahari/Cricket Match/BBC News (Handovers)

But wait! There's more! Aside from the complete Monty Python's Flying Circus television series, the set also includes the following:

Disc 15:Before The Flying Circus is an interesting look at what the principal cast were up to before they started the now famous comedy troupe. Witness some early homes movies and plenty of clips and bits from early, preliminary comedy sketches. There are some neat archival photos used here as well as interviews with the likes of Humphrey Barclay, Ronnie Corbett, David Frost, Robert Hewison, Aimi McDonald, Davis Nobbs, Dennis Norden and Shiela Steafel. If you've ever wanted to know how and where it all began, this is definitely worth a watch.

Disc 16:Monty Python Conquers America: This is the most recent feature in the collection. It's essentially a look at the influence that Monty Python had (and still has) over American pop culture then and now. Aside from interviews with those who were there and saw it happen, we get insight from the likes of Judd Apatow, Hank Azaria, Richard Bowman, Carol Cleveland, Jimmy Fallon, David Hyde Pierce, Howard Kissel, Trey Parker, Carl Reiner, Matt Stone, Luke Wilson and more.

Disc 17:Monty Python Live At The Hollywood Bowl: Released to theaters in 1982, this film was, well, filmed live at the Hollywood Bowl in California. While a lot of the classic sketches are here, the real treat is the new material that wasn't performed in the TV series of films that they made together. Regular 'guest stars' Carol Cleveland and Neil Innes help the boys out on stage, which ties the film back to the original television series quite nicely. The fans we see in the film are absolutely rabid, reciting lines back to the performers and hanging off their every word, waiting for that punch line to hit then immediately igniting into laughter.

Monty Python's Flying Circus: Live at Aspen: This reunion special from 1998 saw the five surviving members live on stage in Aspen joined by the late Graham Chapman's ashes. Here the group receives an AFI award as they look back on their history and accomplishments together before Idle trips and dumps what's left of Chapman all over the stage.

Disc 18:Monty Python Live: Parrot Sketch Not Included (20 Years of Python): The last true reunion to feature all six members of the troupe, this 1989 television special was hosted by Steve Martin and it included a 'greatest hits' reel of sorts showcasing many of the shining moments from the television series (though the Parrot Sketch really wasn't included). While there isn't a ton of new material here, the Pythons only appear for a few minutes outside of the archival clips that are used, it definitely has some historical significance and is worth a watch for Martin's clever commentary.

Monty Python Live: German Episode This is an odd one. Presented here uncut for the first time (having aired slightly trimmed on cable a few years before this release) is one of the two episodes that were done for German audiences. While a fair bit of it is just the BBC material dubbed over, there is quite a bit of new material to be found in between the older pieces. It's certainly an unusual experience to see classic moments like The Lumberjack Song done in Bavarian, but here it is in all its glory for the first time.

The Video:

If you've seen the earlier releases of Monty Python's Flying Circus on DVD you'll have a good idea of what to expect with this set in terms of video quality is there's no real discernable difference between these transfers and the older ones. As far as the episodes go, image quality is a bit uneven. Much of the material that was shot indoors looks alright but some of the outdoor bits are murky looking. There's some minor print damage evident throughout the series as well as a bit of softness to the image. Colors are a little bit on the faded side in some scenes and fine detail isn't exactly super revelatory. That said, this is a television series that is fast approaching its fortieth birthday and when you take that into consideration, it doesn't look too bad. This isn't reference quality by any stretch but most of the issues are thankfully of the minor variety. The Monty Python Live At The Hollywood Bowl feature is on par with the television show in terms of quality.

The newer material that is included in this set looks noticeably better, not surprisingly. Monty Python Conquers America, Monty Python Live: Live at Aspen, Monty Python Live: Parrot Sketch Not Included (20 Years of Python), Monty Python Live: German Episode all look a fair bit better than the vintage material - the transfers are stronger, more detailed and have better colors.

The Audio:

The television series sounds alright in English language Dolby Digital Mono, while the newer material, most of which is in Stereo, sounds just a bit cleaner. There aren't any problems with hiss or distortion to complain about and the levels are fine.

The Extras:

A&E has spread a wealth of supplements throughout the twenty-one discs that comprise this mammoth collection starting with the Personal Best episodes showcasing the comedic talents of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones and Michael Palin. They play out like so...

Disc 20:Eric Idle's Personal Best: Skits include: Sit On My Face/Greasy Compere - Kenny Lust/Can I Have 50 Pounds To Mend The Shed?/World Forum - Communist Quiz/Schoolboys/Nudge Nudge/Silly Olympics/Philosopher's Football/Blood, Devastation, Death, War And Horror/Mount Everest - Hairdresser Expedition/Travel Agents Sketch/Never Be Rude To An Arab/Face The Press/Hermits/Children's Story/How To Do It - Rid The World Of A Known Disease/Army Camps It Up/Bruces/Queen Victoria Handicap/Money Programme/Sviatoslav Richter And Rita/Pouffy Judges/Climbing The Uxbridge Road/Whicker Island/Lumberjack Song. Also on this disc are Eric Idle's Personal Second Best, a Trivia Game and a Eric Idle Biography.

Disc 21:Michael Palin's Personal Best: Skits include: The It's Man/Flying Sheep/Dirty Hungarian Phrase Book/A Duck, A Cat, And A Lizard (Discussion)/Come Back To My Place/Johann Gambolputty de von Ausfernsch-plendensch... Von Hauptkof of Ulm/The Chemist Sketch/School Boys/The Piranha Brothers (Esthel The Frog)/Undertakers/Blackmail/The Semaphore Version Of Wuthering Heights/Man With A Tape Recorder Up His Nose/Leaving The Army/Man With A Tape Recorded Up His Brothers Nose/Architect Sketch/Scotsman On A Horse/Mosquito Hunters/International Wife-Swapping/Post Box Ceremony/Cheese Shop/Fish Slapping Dance Also on this disc are Michael Palin' Personal Second Best, a Trivia Game and a Michael Palin Biography.

Included inside the packaging is a nifty booklet that outlines what skits are contained on what disc and acts as a guide to the content contained in this collection. It also contains very brief write ups on each of the six performers, noting their most famous characters and providing random trivia.

Overall:

While there isn't really anything new here, those who don't already have enough Python in their lives can absolutely consider The Complete Monty Pythons Flying Circus - Collectors Edition Megaset highly recommended. The content has aged better than a fine wine and the wealth of supplemental material that accompanies it is both interesting and ridiculously funny. The A/V quality isn't stellar, but it's decent enough and the quality of the content more than makes up for that.